Votto's night, notes

Clearly Joey Votto isn’t entirely the cure for what ails the Reds. He was 1-for-4 in his first game back but his team notched just six hits in a 7-5 loss to the Blue Jays. Toronto had a 6-0 lead until the seventh.

Votto had a third-inning single — which he hit on the first pitch. He also had two strikeouts and a groundout.

“It was great having Joey out there,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He swung the bat pretty good considering he hadn’t played in a while. He’s going to get better every day.”

“I felt fine. My swing felt good,” Votto said. “I missed some pitches. I’m not going to say I’m rusty but it’s a little different hopping out in front of a big league pitcher than hitting batting practice and playing against A-ballers.”

Other notes:

Willy Taveras batted leadoff and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Danny Richar pinch-hit for Taveras in the ninth. In his last 26 games, Taveras is 11-for-106 (.104).

Chris Dickerson batted ninth and was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Dickerson is the Reds’ hottest hitter and is 9-for-12 over his current six-game hitting streak.

For those wondering why Ryan Hanigan goes back to sitting on the bench despite batting .325, check his clutch numbers. Besides his eight RBIs, he has a .167 average with runners in scoring position. Ramon Hernandez, who started 18 of the previous 20 games at first base while Votto was out, is a .292 hitter with runners in scoring position. Hanigan will get more chances to catch because Hernandez will need some breaks from the ever-increasing grind.

Edwin Encarnacion was the DH and went 0-for-4 on Tuesday for Triple-A Louisville during his latest rehab assignment game.

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3 Comments

With Gonzalez out again, there’s another hole in the defense, and in the lineup. And another longterm question for the team – who is this team’s future shortstop? I think it’s Brandon Phillips, if we’ve got or can get a second baseman.

If, and I mean, if, we’re a selling team and not a buying team after the all-star break, how about trading Arthur Rhodes to some team in the playoff hunt for a hot prospect at 3rd or 2nd?

I’m really looking forward to getting EE back and seeing if he’s the answer at 3rd. It was sad looking at the BA’s of the Toronto lineup and then comparing them to the Reds’.

Mark, how many ABs does Hanigan have w/RISP? My guess is not many. Your stat is based on a small sample size. What was his avg w/ RISP last year, after the call up?
Batting 8th all year, he hasn’t had too many runners on in front of him. I’d like to see what he can do, and in the proccess watch him mow down anyone who tries to run on him.

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